The staff of the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
found Sempra’s proposed Cameron LNG export facility in western
Louisiana “would not result in significant impacts” to the
environment, according to an agency notice today. However, it
said, “some long-term and permanent environmental impacts would
occur.” The commission is set to issue a final decision on the
project by late July.

If approved, Cameron would be the second export terminal to
pass the FERC’s review. Cheniere Energy Inc. (LNG)’s Sabine Pass
project won approval in April 2012, after clearing a similar
environmental review.

Democrats and Republicans in Congress have pushed to
expedite approval of liquefied natural gas export terminals to
send the fuel to Europe and reduce its reliance on Russia’s
energy supplies after it annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region last
month. In addition to the FERC-led environmental review, the
projects need Energy Department approval to ship to nations
without a free-trade agreement with the U.S.

The Cameron project, which may cost as much as $10 billion,
won Energy Department backing in February. It’s scheduled to
begin liquefying gas in late 2017 and be fully operational by
2018, according to San Diego-based Sempra.

The 28-nation European Union gets about a third of its
natural gas from Russia through a web of pipelines that cross
nations including Ukraine, according to the Congressional
Research Service.

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Mary Landrieu this month urged the FERC to approve the Cameron
project, citing the need for job creation in her state and the
need for the U.S. compete with suppliers from other nations.

The Energy Department has approved seven applications to
export the fuel, is reviewing 24 with at least 12 projects still
to be reviewed.

Shipments from most terminals probably won’t begin until
“pretty late in the decade,” Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz
said at an April 23 conference in Washington. The Cheniere
project, also in Louisiana, is scheduled to begin exporting fuel
in late 2015, according to the company.